MMAHIR

April 25 – May 25, 2015

MMAHIR is the public communication channel of Atelier Populaire, created in response to the transformation of the Hungarian Academy of Arts into a public body. Atelier Populaire is an ongoing visual art statement by András Király since the end of 2012. The posters published within the Facebook group “The scandal of the MMA” help keep resistance alive against the injustices of the Hungarian Academy of Arts by using the virtual public sphere. The published works respond quickly to current political oddities in Hungary through the relationship between an image and a single word. In selecting the words, the presence of the letter combination “MA” plays a decisive role, which is then replaced with “MMA.” The project would create a temporary advertising surface on the fence of Károlyi Garden, where a selection of posters would be installed as part of an event. Afterwards, this would remain as an independent object that visitors could view until the end of the Biennial. Smaller works placed in the space of Lollipop Factory Budapest help provide deeper insight into the series. MAAHIR attempts to convey one viewpoint of the artistic community to unsuspecting passers-by, drawing attention to one of the issues that led to the creation of the OFF Biennial: the politically directed, supposedly permanent outsourcing and restructuring of state funding for the arts.

The name Atelier Populaire refers to the group organized by students of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in May 1968, who produced posters for the student movement.

Exhibiting artist: András Király

Venue: Lollypop Factory (1051 Budapest, Magyar utca 18.)